My Little Pony: Nation of Morte, Part Two
by Justaboredpersonlol
Summary: It's been a year since Brandon was killed and Marekya Ark, known as the Dark Queen, took the throne. With the help of two mysterious humans, Twilight was able to resurrect Brandon. He now sets on a new journey, finding his girlfriend, his sister, his friends, and saving the whole world.
1. Strange Circumstances

Brandon's eyes opened, what he saw was far from home. Judging from the stone pillars and murals on the wall, he was in some sort of temple or church. Something was wrong, though, he was having trouble breathing, and he felt as if his heart was going to jump out of his chest. He heard a young voice yelling from his right side, "Twilight! I think he's waking up!" Spike yelled as he rushed to Brandon's side. The clopping sound of hooves on the stone floor almost drowned out Brandon's frightened grunts. "Damn it, Spike, he's not ready yet! Just look at him! Get the sedatives now! He still needs more time!" "But..." "He can't do anything when he's in this state, Spike! Hurry!" Spike rushed to find the sedatives. What the hell was going on?

As she turned her head to look at Spike, Brandon reached his arm out to her, but screamed at the sight of his arm. Almost all of his skin was gone, and what skin was left had been red. This made Brandon panic more, but all he could do was yell. Twilight put his arm down with her hoof, and kept her hoof on his hand, trying to comfort him, "Brandon, I need you to stay calm, ok? Everything is going to be fine. The next time you wake up, I'll answer all of your questions, ok? Fluttershy's fine, she's with-" "Twilight! I can't find it! I think we used it all the last time he woke up!" Spike yelled, out of view. "I know we have more! My list says that we should have plenty!" "Uh...list?" "I told you to use it! He won't survive if we don't do something! His heart rate is out of control!" The two looked at each other, then back to Brandon. Twilight had a look of regret on her face. "I'm sorry, Brandon. But I have to do this..." she told him as her horn charged up.

He managed to say a couple of words, "Twilight, what are you-...WAIT!" he screamed before Twilight zapped him with her magic. He immediately felt sleepy and the world started getting blurry. He faintly felt claws pressing against his pulse, "Well, he seems normal, now." He barely saw Twilight looking down at him, tears in her eyes, her hoof on his face. "That was close," she said, "we almost lost him...again. Spike, run the numbers again, I'm gonna continue the Reconstruction process."  
Spike chuckled, "When he sees what kind of world Equestria's become, he'll probably be mad we didn't let him die." Twilight chuckled at the joke and put her hooves off him, "No, Spike...I think with him, we have a chance," she smiled.


	2. Absence

Brandon awoke about three months later to the feeling of a pair of hooves shaking him. "Brandon! Wake up!...Come on!" She yelled to him. "Brandon! Please!" No response. Out of options, she slapped him across the face. "Ow!" He screamed in pain. "Oh, good! You're awake!" She said, pleased with herself. Brandon was just the opposite, "Yeah, no shit! Why'd you hit me?!" "Oh, you felt that? Sorry." "Of course I felt that! How about I hit you with my BONES?" The need to correct him was unbearable, "Actually, hooves aren't made of bones. They're made from materials similar to your fingernails, just ours is much thicker." "Yeah, frickin' A, I know! What sounds more intimidating? That I'm going to slap you with my fingernail, or that I'm going to club you with my femur bone?" Spike came in at the middle of their argument, "Hey, Brandon," he said casually. To which Brandon replied, again, casually, "Oh, hey, Spike, what's up?" "Oh, nothing, really," he answered, "Just that Equestria's fallen, you came back from the dead, and our friends are gone." Twilight stopped Spike, "Ok, then! I think we need to fill you in."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," he told her. Twilight started pacing, obviously trying to find a way to describe what happened. "Well...you've been dead. Spike and I brought you back, but...it's been about a year. Even with my magic and Spike's help...it was impossible to have you up and ready in a short time with all of the damage you sustained. When we found you...we could hardly recognize you. You looked like a red, scratched pile of meat and protruding bones. Margaret volunteered to get your soul out of Tartarus, while I worked on reconstructing you. About three or four months ago, she succeeded. That's when you woke up the first couple of times, remember?" He nodded, "I hardly remember it, but...yeah." Twilight continued on, "During that year, awful things have been happening. Marekya usurped the throne, Celestia and Luna are nowhere to be found, and she's been trying to find the others and I since we're the Elements of Harmony, the lock that holds the safety of Equestria. She's taken every town in Equestria, except Ponyville. With the help of Cadence we've been able to construct a forcefield similar to the one we used to hold King Sombra back at the Crystal Kingdom, but not before taking all of the unicorns and pegasi, since the Earth Ponies have no special ability like them, they'd be less likely to rebel. About three days after you awoke the second time, Margaret came back with two strange characters, going by the names of Lilium and Arcanum, and told her she'd be taking our friends into hiding until this all blows over. I haven't heard anything from her since. I stayed locked in this temple, the Temple of Sol, protected by the Ancient Queen's magic, as a way to finish your reconstruction in peace. Any questions?"

Brandon thought for a moment, processing everything. His first question was obvious, "What about Fluttershy? And Lizzie? Are they ok?" "Fluttershy's ok. I know where our friends are and with you back we can finally get to them! As for Lizzie...I haven't seen her since the Gala. I'm sorry, Brandon." He bowed his head down, he expected that, but it didn't make it any easier. "Well," he spoke, "I know she's alive and ok. Because if they had her and wanted to kill her, then they'd have done it publicly, to make a point. Especially being related to the Guardian." Twilight smiled, _at least he's still himself, _she thought. Brandon thought for another moment, "How was Fluttershy holding up after my death?" Twilight looked at the ground sorrowfully, "What would you expect? She hardly ate for half a year, and what she did made her sick. She barely slept. Half an hour a day at most. She constantly talked about how she wish it was her instead of you. We had her on suicide watch. She tried to kill herself. She thought that without you, there was no reason to live. You meant everything to her. She had a hard life, but was still happy because she had you. Then you died, how did you think she'd react?" her voice started shaking, it was obviously heartbreaking to witness this firsthand. Brandon shook his head, _damn it, Shy. You promised me if something were to happen you wouldn't resort to that, _he said to himself. After gaining thoughts back he asked one more question, "Ok, I understand that the reason she's looking for us is the Elements of Harmony, but what I don't get is if you knew where our friends were, why couldn't you go do it yourself?" "Because, Brandon, you are the Guardian of Equestria. Remember how I said we were a lock? Well, you're the key. You're the key that unlocks the fate of Equestria. From the scrolls of the Queen that I've read in here, you're the No More Hero, the one who helps the descendents of the Founding Mares of Equestria," she told him.

"Ok, then. I guess that's the only answer I'm going to get," he said, "So, who's first?" Twilight took out a journal filled with notes, "Well," she sifted through the pages, "I don't know everypony's EXACT location, except for Pinkie Pie. She's in the desert trying to investigate where the Morrenians originated from when humans lived in Equestria. She's been studying the ruins and ancient carvings very carefully," He looked at her blankly, to which she replied, "And I just realize how ridiculous that sounded once I said it out loud." He continued his stare, "Ok, so get Pinkie?" "No, no. She should be safe. We'll grab her after we get the others. Fluttershy is in the Temple of the Royals in the Everfree Forest. It's not that far from here. I played a little around with your data pad, and modified it to where I can communicate with you any time I want, and it comes with a map. Are you ready to go get Fluttershy?" She told him as she magically levitated his armor, sword, and gun to him.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said as he started strapping on his armor.  
_  
Hold on for just a little while longer, Fluttershy. I'm coming._


	3. Twi, it's raining chocolate milk

Brandon stood in front of the temple, overgrown with vines and dozens of plant life he didn't even know existed. Twilight instructed him over the data pad, "Ok, once you get inside there is no telling what kind of monsters you'll find. Fluttershy's safe, though, she's in the central chamber. But you need to hurry. According to Cadence, a couple of monsters broke in and are searching for her. Good luck."

He opened the door and what he saw...didn't make sense. The whole inside looked like it was on the outside, yet the ground was checkered. The flowers were, in a way Brandon could only describe as, Minecraft styled blocks. The clouds inside of the temple were...pink? "What the hell...? Twilight," he called to her on the data pad, "Something's...wrong." "What? What is it?" She asked him, the static still playing hell with their conversation. Brandon tried to find a way to describe this, he started walking around to get a better view, "Uh...well, it seems that I'm in a purple and white checkered room, stuff's floating around, and there are clouds in here, they're pink." As if on cue, the clouds started pouring down some brown liquid-y substance, falling on him. He looked at his hand, this was either going to be really gross or really good. He licked his hand and reported to Twilight, "Oh, and the clouds are raining chocolate milk. Did you know about this?"

"Chocolate milk?" She said in a panicked voice, "Oh no." He didn't like that answer, "What 'oh no'? What is it?" he started panicking into the pad, unable to see the serpent-like creature peering behind him. "Brandon, you need to hurry," she warned him, trying to stay calm, "That description matches what happened when Discord ruled Equestria." "Discord? Who is Discord?" A large, thin shadow was cast over him.

"I am!" it said, "It is GREAT to meet you!"


	4. Discord

"SHIT!" Brandon screamed and punched the monster in the face, out of reflex. The serpent held his nose, "Ow! I never hit you! I never even touched you!" Brandon got a good look at the beast, and it was a jumbled mess, it was like some sort of disturbed child's imaginary friend. "What the hell are you? Where's Fluttershy?" The creature looked offended, "Well, it's not like I want to know your name or anything. Even though we're enemies, I was hoping we could be somewhat civil. I'm Discord, God of Chaos, blah blah blah, oh, and your girlfriend is now under MY protection. Too slow there, hero. But, I do have a way in which you can win her back!" _Oh, great, _he thought, _another mentally unstable villain. This should go well._He thought about it for a moment and decided it wouldn't ask to hurt, "Well, how can I get her back?" Discord took a big chug from his glass of chocolate milk, which wasn't there a second ago, "I'm glad you asked! Hold my milk." He told him as he gave Brandon the glass and flew toward the center of the temple.

Discord sat on the throne in the middle, looking very comfortable. "You see, being encased in stone twice REALLY gets you bored. And my definition of fun...well, it doesn't work for most." Brandon tried figuring this one out, it was next to impossible, "Meaning, you pull violent pranks?" Discord smiled, "No, more like..." he sighed, "Here, let me put this in a way you can understand: Have you ever pulled a prank before? I mean, a really good prank." Brandon did recall a time when Pinkie invited him to go on some sort of prank spree and they painted all of Roseluck's roses blue. The whole town thought she was some sort of rose magician and started demanding for different colors. When they found out, they all shared a really big laugh. Really big as in 3/4 of Ponyville. "Yes," he told him. "Well, imagine that MY sense of humor is like that. Pulling fun little pranks on unsuspecting ponies and having a big laugh after! The way I do it is just...different." "You mean randomly violent?" "Violent's different!" It was Brandon's turn to sigh, "Look, I don't have time for this, just give me Fluttershy and I won't kill you." Discord had a fake look of offense on him, "Why, you aren't even going to play the game? That's so sad, you humans were always such sticks in the mud! Fine, Just pass on through this corridor and you can have her. She's right down there. Good luck!" He knew it was a trap, but followed the goat thingy's instructions, "Ok. Good luck with your empty temple and raging insanity."

He walked down the hall, after giving Discord his milk back, and down a few flights of stairs. This part of the temple was stuffy. He walked for a good five minutes before all of the torches lighting his way went out, suddenly and simultaneously. Not knowing what was going on, he drew his sword, ready for battle. Bright lights suddenly flashed over him, blinding him for a few seconds. When he could see again, he was at some sort of concert stage, the stage lights burning into his eyes. Discord came over the loudspeaker, "I told you that you'd have to EARN her back, and that's just what you're doing! Now, I love a performance, and back when I ruled Equestria, you know what we did for fun? We watched fights. Much like the Romans in your world, we loved a good tussle between a criminal and a trained soldier! Here's my game! A Role-Playing-Game! You will be the criminal fighting for your life, and my minions will be the bounty hunters trying to stop you! Sound like fun? Let me just get the playing field started," he chuckled.

After a few sounds of poofs and some dust sprinkling around, Brandon looked at what was once the concert stage and saw it was a room, looking much like the temple's main room, but with one catch. Five golems, each about fifteen feet tall, and they looked really mad. "If you manage to survive, then you can have her back! You have my promise! Until then...let the games begin."


	5. Rock vs Paper

The golems pounded on the ground, giving out a severe battle cry. Brandon prayed his sword could cut through rock. "Alright, guys. You first." They charged at him, he responded by running on one of the arms and attempting to slash it's arm off. No such luck, just a few sparks flew from its arm. Discord laughed at Brandon's strategy, "Don't you know what a golem is? It's a pile of rocks infused with a soul! That doesn't mean they're invincable, but you don't have the right equipment to destroy them! How will you do it, hero?" He started howling with laughter. Obviously distress is hilarious to this guy.

Brandon kept dodging the attacks, seeing if there was some way to destroy them. _Think, Brandon. Think! There's always a way to destroy an enemy._ He looked up and realized something, _the stage lights! If I find something to set off a good enough explosion, then the parts will get scattered. _He looked around for some sort of fuel. Nothing. _Damn it! I guess I'll have to settle for the hard way. _He said as he ran headfirst at one of the golems slashing the small glowing stone in the middle, its life source. _Well, that was easy._ Four more to go, could he really pull that off again?

Discord laughed at this, "Oh, I knew you'd get one down! You've still got four more, though! Oh, I TRULY need to think Marekya for bringing me back! Here's an extra for you, as a present from your pal, Discord! You see this screen?" He pointed to Brandon's side to reveal a giant TV screen which, once again, wasn't there a second ago. The screen turned on and Fluttershy was on the screen, looking depressed and in a small room. A full plate of food in front of her, it wasn't even touched. "You see your girlfriend on the screen? Well, a little psychological warfare is fun. It's not really MY taste, but the Queen demands it, and I've kind of grown on it. Plus, I have to follow her every order. Part of the agreement: She releases me and I torment all of her enemies! I'm amazed that someone like her has such strong magic! Oh, Fluttershy can't hear me now, but wait until I press this button," he pressed the button on the small device, and spoke into it, "Fluttershy! It's your old friend, Discord! Here with your daily reminder: Brandon died because of you!" She went from emotionless to hysterical in a milisecond, "Shut up! Stop it!" She screamed. Discord took his claw off the button, "you see, every two minutes I'm going to shout something NASTY to her, it's actually pretty fun!" He started laughing at the disharmony he was causing.

He had to think, but couldn't focus because of Fluttershy's screams. Then he thought..."Twilight!" he told her. The Datapad showed her image as she responded, "Yes?" "I need you to pinpoint the location where Fluttershy's being held." "On it! Give me two seconds." And, like she said, two seconds later a blip came up on the radar. "What are you going to do?" She asked, "You still have to fight the golems." he chuckled, "No. No I don't."

Discord obviously wasn't paying attention, he was having too much fun in the chaos, "Oh, and Fluttershy, don't forget, he didn't love you. If he did, well, then he would've made an effort to fight." The screaming coming from the screen was unbearable, "PLEASE STOP IT. WHY DO I DESERVE THIS? MAKE IT STOP!"  
Discord, kept laughing, not noticing Brandon was trying to get the golems attention.

"Hey! Over here! Look at how small I am!" He ran toward a nearby door, where, sure enough, the golems charged forward, crashing into the wall. Discord laughed at this destruction. It wasn't until the dust cleared that he realized just what Brandon was planning. Luckily, the smash dazed the golems, so he had some time.

Fluttersy sat, facing a corner of the room, heavily sobbing. She heard footsteps and didn't even bother to look back. "If you're going to kill me, just do it. I don't even care anymore." He stepped forward, the urge to hug her was unbearable, but he decided to play with her for a bit.

"Nah, Shy. I don't think I'll kill you. I think I'll kiss you instead."


	6. A loving reunion, mixed with some chaos

Fluttershy turned around, and slowly looked up, thinking if this was some sort of trick, Brandon bent down and hugged her real tight, "I'm so sorry...I'm here..." It wasn't until he kissed her when she realized that it was him. When she realized that this was the real Brandon holding her, she broke in to sobs. But Brandon could tell that she was crying because she was happy, because he was crying for that very same reason.

"You're alive? But...you died! I saw you! You didn't have a pulse, and Twilight said your brain stopped. How could you...Oh, I don't even care. I'm just glad you're ok!" She was crushing him, "Ow, Fluttershy, I'm not completely healed yet! Ease up!" "Oh, sorry!" Fluttershy let go of him, her face still soaked in tears, yet still keeping that smile. Brandon couldn't look at her without crying. In her eyes he saw a year of torment, tortured by the thought her true love died right in front of her and how her home was turned into a dictatorship. "I love you..." he told her, sobbing and burying his face into her mane. Fluttershy could hear muffled sounds of "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" coming from him. She was crying, too. Brandon finally stopped and felt something cold lightly touch the side of his head. The necklace. "You...you kept this? Usually when something happens...most people, I mean, ponies try to forget. Because it hurts. Why did you keep it?" Fluttershy smiled, after Brandon wiped the tears out of her eyes, she answered, "Because I couldn't let you go. I told you that I've had a hard life. You did, too, but you had Lizzie...I didn't have anypony. Even when I grew up and moved to Ponyville, I still felt sort of lonely. My friends were great, but I needed somepony to talk with about this. You listened to everything I had to say, you made me feel like...like I belonged. This necklace, I told you I would never take it off. It reminds me of the times we had. The first time we stayed up all night together, the first time we kissed, our whole relationship. It reminds me how much you love me and why you love me. I guess that's what kept me going." He looked at her, playing with the necklace, "Twilight told me that you tried to kill yourself. I want you to promise me that you will never do that again. You are too beautiful and too amazing to do that to yourself." Fluttershy looked down," I-I'm sorry...I..." at that moment, A rumble came from down the hall, and Brandon quickly remembered why it was so hard for him to get here. "Fluttershy, we have to go!" But she didn't hear him, "What?" She asked, but before she could get the second half of the word in, he picked her up, much like you'd hold your loved one on your way to the honeymoon suite...except with less champagne and more golems.

Brandon looked down the hallway, with Fluttersy in his arms, and saw the golems angrily beating down the wall, as a way for them to get in. "Oh, shit," he muttered, looking for a way out. Nothing. That newly torn hole in the wall is the only way to get out. Fluttershy had a rage that boiled deep inside her, they were having a moment and these monsters interupted it. "Shy," he told her, "I think I have an idea..it's going to be hard to pull off, though." The golems shouted a battle cry and charged toward the two. Brandon got his legs ready, this was going to take a lot of jumping and a lot of running. He had to wait until the last possible second to escape. At the exact moment he was ready to go, two human figures dropped down and threw small, hand-made bombs at the golems, sticking to their soul stones. One of the figures yelled in an obviously disguised voice, "Go! Now!" Brandon looked at them for a moment, he could tell some of the features, even though they were both in an outfit that covered their entire body, except for some hair and their eyes. The taller one had light purple eyes, almost like Twilight's, but the hair was completely under the outfit. Brandon couldn't tell if this one was a man or a woman, the costume was pretty loose, and the voice sounded both like a man and a woman's voice. The shorter one was obviously a girl. A few strands of black hair was locked in place over her blue eyes. Even though she forced her voice to sound deeper, she still sounded like a girl. "You guys must be Arcanum," he looked at the tall one, "and Lillium, right?" he said looking at the shorter one. Arcanum shouted, "Yes! Now go! You have to protect Fluttershy! We'll hold these guys off until the bombs explode!" Brandon didn't hesitate after that, he ran as fast as he could with Fluttershy's weight pulling him back. She wasn't that heavy, but it did throw him off a little.

Almost on the way out, Discord stood in the way, "Uh-uh!" he said, "You've still got one more challenge! I call him Goliath. It seemed appropriate." On that note, a giant golem, almost destroying the roof of the temple, stomped, ready for battle. Brandon set Fluttershy down and took his sword out yet again, hoping there was an easy way. "Ok, Fluttershy, just stay right here and I'll be done soon, ok?" No response. "Fluttershy?...Fluttershy?" He looked to his left and she was gone. That mare was flying toward the golem! She looked right in it's stone eye, "Who do you think you are?! This is the first time I have seen my boyfriend in a year, after thinking he was dead, and you come in stomping like some wild animal! Is THAT how you want to act in front of your friends?" Discord looked at her in disbelief, "What the hell is she doing?" Brandon shared the same look, "I...uh...I don't really know, but it's working." Fluttershy continued using her terrifying stare on the golem, and it seemed to be...shaking? "How do you think your mother would react if I told her that you'd been messing around and acting like an uncivilized animal! I think golems are better than that! If you want to be a proud member of the golem species, then you better act like one, young man! Do you understand me!?" Goliath gave a whimper and a nod. "Good! Now I want you to gather your friends and find some place else." The giant golem looked down in shame, but complied. He busted through the wall and signaled the others to follow along, which they did.

Brandon had his sword pointed at Discord, who seemed worried. "Discord," Brandon told him, "If I see your ugly goat face anywhere near me again, this sword will be the last thing you see coming before it pokes both of your asymmetrical eyes out." Discord went from terrified to angry, "Fine! I don't even care! Queen Marekya can kiss my serpent butt. Forget her! Sorry, kid!" He flew out of the hole in the wall, and as he did, the temple looked normal.

Fluttershy flew back down to the ground, looking pleased, "We did it! We beat Discord!" Brandon smiled at her, "Please, I couldn't have done it without you doing that freaky stare thing at that golem! That was amazing! How'd you do that?!" Fluttershy smiled meekly, "Uh, well, I don't really know where it came from...it just happens sometimes. I can't really control it." _Poor girl, _he thought, _I hate to admit it, but bottling up all of that anger really did a number on her. _"Fluttershy, you're amazing," he told her as he brought her in for a kiss. As the kiss parted a glowing light emenated from the center of the room, the glowing soon turned to blinding. After a few moments a figure was visible, looking similar to Fluttershy, but not quite. The figure spoke in a soothing, angelic tone, sounding otherworldly in it's echoing voice, "_**I am one of the six founders of Equestria. Your tradition knows me as "Private Pansy," but I would rather be known as The Spirit of the Element of Kindness. The Queen foretold this tale, a strange creature banishing her daughters and taking the kingdom for itself. Then a young human, the Hero of No More, would appear after a year's absence, tie in with the Elements of Harmony, their spirits, and represenatives, in order to defeat the Great Beast, thus regaining peace to the land. I see you have started one piece of the tale with my descendent. I can not speak long, for I must return to the Element of Kindness. O brave hero, Element of Courage, I will aid you in your battle against evil as soon as you rescue the rest. We have great power, combined with our represenatives and the Queen's Horn, we will be able to stop the Dark Queen. Good luck in finding the rest of us."** _On finishing that, The Spirit of Kindness dissapeared, the light fading into the night. Twilight spoke from Brandon's device, "Hello? Can you hear me?" "Yeah," he told her, picking up the datapad, "We can hear you." "Oh, good! I've been trying to reach you forever. I could hear everything, but obviously you couldn't hear me. Make your way back to the Temple, I think I found something.


	7. Q&A

At returning to the Temple of Sol, Brandon and Fluttershy filled Twilight in with everything that happened, especially what the Spirit of Kindness told them, and when Lillium and Arcanum saved them. After a discussion, they decided to hear what Twilight called them back for. "Well, I think I may have found where Rainbow Dash is. It's pretty bad." Fluttershy squeaked, "How bad?" "Really, pretty bad. Marekya's guards have taken over Cloudsdale and turned it into a prison where ALL of the pegasi in Equestria are. My sources tell me that the only pegasus they can't find is Rainbow Dash. And also, I recently discovered that the Dark Army is going to feed all of the pegasi to the monster that lives in the Molten Mountains."

Brandon thought about it for the moment, "So...you want me to go inside, kill the monster, save Rainbow Dash, free the pegasi, then continue on with the next one?" "Well, in short...yes." "Ok, done deal." Fluttershy broke in, "Wait! You're going in there alone?" He smiled, she was conquering her fear of terrifying monsters all for him, "You're coming, Fluttershy?" "No, I, uh, was just wondering." Well, she tried. He chuckled, knowing she'd back out. He probably wouldn't have let her go anyway. He doesn't want to lose her again. "Alright," he said, "Just give me a day's rest and I'll go save the pegasi, and hopefully find Rainbow Dash on the way. Knowing her, she would've made it to Cloudsdale as soon as she heard about this, so she probably isn't far." Twilight gave a hopeful smile, "Sure, we're starting out small, but I think we can pull this off. It's probably a good idea that we all get some shut eye. Tomorrow's going to be tough. Goodnight!" She said cheerfully as she walked over to her air-blown matrress and almost immediately fell asleep. The poor mare must have been tired from all those long nights of reconstruction.

The two looked at Spike, who was also asleep and has been asleep since they got back. Brandon looked at the free air-blown mattress, "Well, care to join me on the bed?" he said with a sarcastic yet sophisticated look and tone as he laid down on the mattress.. She chuckled and laid down next to him, moving around a little to get herself comfortable. "Sorry that your first night back with me has to be on a 10 bit air mattress. I was hoping to make it a bit more romantic, but all I can really do is cuddle with you on a crappy air-filled bed." She smiled, "I don't mind, really, I'm just glad that you're back." Fluttershy started sinking into the mattress. "Here," he said, "lay on me." She didn't really hesitate, just did it with a shy, blushing smile on her. He had to push a couple of her strands of her mane out of his face, judging by the smell, it's been a while since she last bathed, she probably hasn't had the chance. Then again, he smelled like a dead person, but neither of them really seemed to mind. She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Brandon looked down at her, she looked so peaceful and happy, despite the depressing circumstances. She still had some trouble getting comfortable, but it was better than laying on the mattress. "Just wondering..." she asked, "What did you hope our first night back would be like?" He thought about it for a moment, "Well, it certainly wasn't laying in some stuffy temple with two of our friends just across the room. Something like...shit, I don't know. A nice dinner, maybe." "Swear," she said plainly. "What?" "You swore. Don't you remember me telling you that you swore too much? You told me you'd cut down on it. So, now I'm letting you know when you swear, because I think sometimes you don't even hear it," she smiled. "Oh, right," he chuckled and continued on with what he was saying before, "Well, I don't know. I was hoping we would be able to sit on our couch, maybe watch _Sherlock _on my datapad or read that book, _I have No Mouth and I Must Scream, _together. Just enjoy that we have each other after being seperated for a year. That sounds nice, right?" he looked down at her and could tell she was imagining everything and cuddled up closer. "Yes, it does," she said and closed her eyes, happily sighing.

"Hey, Shy..." he said, opening her eyes and drawing her attention on him. He realized that he had to ask her now, even if the situation isn't great. "Yes?" She asked, looking at him. He continued on "...you remember that...thing I wanted to ask you?" "Yes, it's been bothering me forever! Did you find an answer to it?" "No...not yet atleast. From the time we've been together, to all of the happy times we shared, I've always been paranoid of losing you. Not just that, either, I've been wanting to...well, to put it in short, I want to be with you forever. I love you, all of you. The way you act so nice to anything and everything you find, your eyes, your body, your hair, your voice, your smile, your...well, everything! All along I knew that I would be happy with being with you. Which is why I want to ask you..." Her eyes grew wide, filled with more happy tear. He didn't finish it, but she already knew what he was going to ask. "When all of this blows over, Queen Marekya and all of that..." In her heart Fluttershy knew what he was going to ask. "Fluttershy, I want to ask if you'll marry me?"

Fluttershy was silent, but the fact that she had the biggest grin planted on her face, he could sort of tell what she was thinking. _Things could be like that dream! We could be together, everything would be great! _"Yes! I'll marry you!" she couldn't help but shout it. Well, whatever passes for shout in Fluttershy terms. "I...wow, I never in a million years thought that you'd want to...oh my gosh! I love you, and I'm so glad I'll be able to be with you forever!" He didn't hear the rest, all he heard was her saying yes. "Wow, Fluttershy, you...you said yes!" They kissed, more passionately than they ever have before. "Of course I said yes, I love you!" "I love you too, I told you, I love everything about you. I'm so happy that you said yes, I don't know why I didn't think you did, but that's what I was afraid of." The kissing soon turned aggressive, until Fluttershy stopped and bit her lip, "Let's save it for after the wedding." He chuckled, "Probably a good idea. Don't want to traumatize Spike or anything." She put her head back on his chest and closed her eyes.

_Next on my to-do list, _Brandon thought, _make it to the wedding._


	8. The Fate of a Pegasus

After about an hour of flying on Penna, Brandon finally arrived to the city of Cloudsdale, a shadow of it's former glory. The sidewalks usually teeming with prideful pegasi now filled with search lights and guards. The once beautiful home of the Pegasus was now a dark, dank prison. He noticed something leaving the town on his flight: a cage filled with screaming pegasi. Brandon noticed some citizens of Ponyville in the cage: Derpy, Flitter, Cloud Chaser, and...even the Cakes? _That's strange, _he thought, _they're not Pegasus. Unless...shit! Poundcake! _Those monsters! After a closer look, he saw more pegasus children, Scootaloo, Featherweight, little fillies and colts. They were going to feed them to the monster in Molten Mountain!

"Penna!" Brandon decided to train the bird in Latin, it sounded pretty cool and that way the enemies couldn't hear him screaming out what he was doing, "_No ut cage!" _To which the bird started flying at the cage, following Brandon's instructions. He took out his sword and dived on top of the cage as soon as he got close. Dodging the arrows being shot at him by the guards, "On the count of THREE I want every pony to ram into the walls as hard as you can! They underestimate the strength of you guys, so they used this flimsy cage, but I know that you're stronger! On my mark! ONE," he started the countdown, dodging the arrows and throwing one guard off, "TWO!" Every pony got into a running stance, their wings spread, ready to slam into the walls at full speed. Brandon shot the other guards, driving cart carrying the cage, "THREE!" He screamed, almost immediately the walls broke open, the imprisoned pegasi came out like bats in a cave. The Cakes being saved by a couple of free-roaming Pegasus. Brandon forgot one thing: Scootaloo can't fly. "Penna!" He screamed, jumping off the cage then being caught by his bird, "_Secundum suus!" _ And at that moment the bird dashed downward, catching the orange pegasus foal as she was falling, "Brandon! Rainbow Dash told me-" "That I was dead? I'll tell you later. I'm going to drop you off at Ponyville and then go find Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo smiled at the mention of her idol's name, "I know where she is! I can take you to her!" "I'm not taking you with me." "Fine, then I won't tell you."

He thought about it, seeing as there was no other choice, "Fine," he said, sounding annoyed, "I'll take you with me." "Success! Alright, now head toward that big mountain!"

He sighed, "I'm going to regret this."


	9. Rivals and Friends

After landing on some mountain ledge Scootaloo pointed him toward a cave, "Ok, she should be right in here! Let's go in." He felt bad for doing this, but he did promise he'd let her go, "Ok," he said, "But you need to stay close to me. Don't stay but 2 feet from behind me, and ALWAYS stay within my sight. You know what they were doing here, right? Taking the first batch of prisoners to be fed to the monster inside of here, so be careful." She smiled, ignoring the danger and ecstatic over how she was going on a real adventure. This ought to buy her some more positive attention from Rainbow Dash. "Right next to me, ok? Not behind, not in front of me, but right in my peripheral." She nodded and followed him inside the cave, after a while of traveling inside the cave, it seemed to get hotter and hotter as they progressed. Apparently this is why it's called the Molten Mountains. The whole interior of the mountains turned out to be a giant volcano! Scootaloo wiped the sweat off her forehead, "Wow. It's really hot in here." Brandon looked around, following what seemed to be a path, "Well, it makes sense why they would feed the pegasus to this monster. They can't fly in heat, or at least in this condition. It would suck them dry along with the combined efforts of trying to escape. Luckily we packed plenty of water!" He told her positively as he pointed toward his backpack.

All they really did was walk on the sections of the volcano that weren't melted, scanning for any sign of Rainbow Dash. Brandon broke their silence, "So, what happened to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?" "I...I don't know. We were split up during the attack on Ponyville, when they rounded all of us up. I haven't seen them in forever. I'm getting worried about them. They...they could be...," a tear slid down hr face. He bent down, and gave the young filly a hug, "Scootaloo, all of this will be over soon. I'm sure they're ok, you don't have to worry about them. The only thing you should be worried about is if I'm going to tell Rainbow Dash that you cried," he chuckled. She smiled, looking forward and noticing something. "Brandon! We have to hurry! GO!" She started running to the direction she was looking at, well, sprinting more like. "Scootaloo! I told you to stay put!" He ran after her, "Stop!" and saw what she was running to. Scootaloo's two young friends and her idol being surrounded by about three goblins. _Apparently it's not too hot for the locals, _he thought to himself.

Three shots fired, three bodies fell. That's all it took. Applebloom looked around, "What was that? Rainbow Dash, what's happenin'?!" Dash looked around, the heat made her vision blurry, but she did see Scootaloo running toward her. They all ran in for a group hug, all of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were finally reunited. Rainbow Dash was as excited as Scootaloo was, "Wow, kid! How'd you do that? That was awesome! Did you kick a rock like I showed you?" Scootaloo nodded at Dash's assumption, "No, it wasn't me. It was Brandon!" Scootaloo looked back, and the others looked with her and saw a figure walking from the steam and heat coming in to view. Sure enough, it was Brandon, reloading his last clip in his handgun, "Hey guys! I would ask if you missed me, but that just sounds too corny." Applebloom and Sweetie Belle immediately ran to Brandon, tackling him. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash stood in disbelief.

"Brandon," she said in a soft voice, "Is...that really you?" He smiled, "Yeah, it's me. Twilight rebuilt me, with the help of these two strange people." Her sad face soon turned angry, she slapped him across the face, "THAT'S for making me think you were dead!" She yelled at him, then almost instantly started hugging him, "And this is for coming back. You scared all of us." This is certainly a side he wasn't used to seeing of her. Usually, Rainbow Dash acts like some tough girl around everypony, but now she was acting like some scared little filly. Dash quickly let go as she realized what she was doing. "Sorry, Dash, not my fault I got thrown off a cliff. So what are these two doing here?" Rainbow Dash looked at the three fillies catching up, "Probably the same reason that you brought Scootaloo with you. They wouldn't quit begging me to help fight the monster. They though it ate Scootaloo and wanted revenge...so did I. Don't yell at me, I know it was wrong...but I wasn't in my right mind...the first shipment of prisoners were sent here this morning and were devoured. I...I can't believe it. How can it be like this now?" Brandon thought for a moment, "Wait...the first shipment? This morning?" "Yeah." "Oh, funny story. I passed that on my way here. They're all ok and if we kill this monster they'll have no place to send them. So, let's go find this thing!" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, "You saved them? My dad was there! Thank you! When we get back I'm buying you a drink." "Wow, your dad is worth just one drink?" "Ok, fine. As much as you can handle." That felt like a challenge, "Ok, weather girl, you better push a ton of clouds, because I will drink you broke!" He soon realized the younger audience listening to them, "Uh...let's continue this conversation. So, where's this monster?"

Just then, the lava started bubbling and the ground shook violently. Rainbow Dash cried out, "Brandon, I hope you know how to use that sword, because here it comes!" After a few seconds of rumbling, the monster finally revealed itself. It was a giant humanoid creature, at least the shape was similar. It had rock and magma skin, and a giant eye on it's chest, as well as blazing flames for hair. This monster was known as Igneus, the monster of old, said to be sealed away by Commander Hurricane thousands of years ago.

Brandon drew his sword and got in a ready stance, next to Rainbow Dash. "Girls," he screamed, "Stay back! Get out of here! We've got this!"


	10. Those who challenge the Volcano

"Rainbow Dash, I want you to distract it! Somehow get it's arm over here, I need a pathway to get to that eye on it's chest!" Rainbow Dash started flapping her wings, "How do you know the eye is the weak point?" He smirked, "Haven't you played _Legend of Luna?_The giant eye is ALWAYS the weak point!" She started flying toward the monster, waving her arms and shouting, trying to grab it's attention. Brandon started dodging the monster's attacks, at one point it started spitting lava and throwing fiery rocks at them! Dash planted her hooves on the ground, "Hey! Monster! Over here!" the firey monster looked at her and raised it's hand. Brandon didn't realize just what she was doing, "Rainbow, get out of the way!"

At the last second, Rainbow Dash dashed out of the way, leaving the monster immobile in confusion long enough for Brandon to quickly run on it's arm. He had to be quick or else his boots would melt. The monster started shaking as soon as Brandon was halfway up its arm, trying to force Brandon off. He could stay on for a few seconds, but ultimately the monster was too strong and he fell off. Falling toward the lava, he felt a sense of regret, _I should've been better. I should've beaten this thing. I should've waited to ask Fluttershy to marry me. Now I'll break her heart again. _He could feel the heat getting closer and closer with each moment he fell, and as he closed his eyes, knowing this would hurt, he felt the heat getting less intense. Confused, he opened his eyes and saw Rainbow Dash with his belt in her mouth. "Rainbow Dash?" He thought that a pegasus couldn't fly in heat. She tried to talk without letting go of him, but all he heard was something about her being the best flyer and she signaled him to hold on to her hooves. He did so and she let go of him. "All right!" She screamed, "Let's take this ass hole down!" He let go of one of her hooves to he could hold his sword, pointing it at the eye on the monster's chest. Igneus screamed loudly, making the ground rumble and a few chunks of rock fall. Its mouth stayed open, though and it seemed like it was building up some sort of energy.

"Oh shit. Rainbow Dash! Start evasive maneuvers!" "Uh, ok!" At that moment the monster release a huge beam of energy. Sure enough, she dodged almost all of it successfully, except one instance where Brandon almost got a small burn on his arm, even though it missed it felt like painful. Wanting immediate payback he started swinging on Rainbow Dash's arms, ready to launch himself at the monster. He waited until he was close enough and pointed in the right direction when he threw himself.

After letting go he pointed himself like a missile, his sword pointed right for the pupil in Igneus' eye. Even when the sword pierced the eye of the monster the heat was intense, worse than sitting close to the fireplace, more like sticking your face in it. The monster screamed from the pain, an emotion Brandon thought the monster couldn't feel. Igneus flung Brandon off, but luckily Rainbow Dash was able to catch Brandon, or rather, tackle him on to a ledge. The monster thrashed around, trying to kill the two, but couldn't see where they were. Igneus's temper tantrum caused a small, heated rock to fall on Brandon's arm as he was getting up, bringing about a searing pain. He screamed and flung the rock off, dousing some water from his backpack on it. Hardly helped. In the midst of the excitement, the same otherworldly light entered the chamber, taking the form of Commander Hurricane. It spoke in an authoritative voice, **_"I am the Spirit of Loyalty. I must hurry, my connection with the Element of Loyalty is fading. I can only tell you this: Your questions will be answered in time. Be fierce, my descendent and Guardian. The rest will not go down easy. Go, now! For Equestria! For the world!"_**


	11. A Comforting Moment

Returning to the temple and letting the girls catch up, the younger ones decide to help Brandon with his arm, burned severely. "Ok, girls, just dip the rag in the water, I think I'll let Spike do the rest," he instructed. Sweetie Belle looked hopeless, "Brandon," Sweetie Belle said, "I'm scared...I haven't seen Rarity or my parents in a year! What if they're all..." Brandon interrupted her before she started crying. Sometimes it seemed like all he did was comfort crying ponies. "Stop thinking like that," he told her. Applebloom looked sad, too "An' I haven't seen Applejack that long either! Rainbow Dash took us to find that monster, 'cause we were certain it ate Scootaloo! But I was hopin' I'd find my sister, too." "Both of you! Stop that. Only idiots think like that and I've known you for over a year. You three are the smartest, most ambitious anythings, ponies or humans, I have ever met. I have a friend that told me if you give up on someone then they might as well be dead," he smiled at them then looked at Fluttershy. Surprisingly they were laughing and talking as if nothing was wrong.

The three fillies smiled and Spike said aloud, "Ok, Sweetie Belle, all you have to do is put this on his arm," he handed her the cold rag. The filly unicorn had the rag on her nose, shivering and walking toward Brandon. "Ok," she told him, lift up your sleeve!" He started lifting his sleeve up, trying to get the clothes to avoid contact with the burnt skin, "Hoping this will get you a Cutie Mark in nursing?" Sweetie Belle started getting excited, "Wow, I never even thought of that! Do you think that could happen?!" He chuckled, "Possibly." The filly started putting the rag on him, making him flinch a little. Any colder and it would've turned to ice. "Wow," Sweetie Belle looked at his arm, "Are those your muscles? They're, well, not giant, but they're really tight." He looked at them, "Yeah, my leg muscles are more fit than my arms. I'm usually a kicker," Sweetie kept looking at them, "They're still pretty big."

Fluttershy walked over, "The bigger they are, the bigger the monster he can handle!" Brandon looked at her and the others following her, "Hey, beautiful," they kissed, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, "Ha! I bet that's not the only thing big on him, right Fluttershy?" She nudged her old friend in her rib cage, indicating it was a joke. Fluttershy started slowly backing away, blushing, "I, uh, I wouldn't know anything about that, Rainbow Dash, you'll have to ask somepony else," she said nervously. "Oh, don't think I don't know about you two! I was coming over one day and I saw-" "Rainbow!" Twilight stopped her, "there are children here!" She nodded over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike. The fillies didn't really understand what was going on, but Brandon did get a thumbs up from Spike. With all of the books Twilight had in the library, there was no doubt he read about this stuff out of curiosity, or even taught by Twilight.

Applebloom took a moment for the adults to finish arguing about whatever they were arguing about, and finally asked, "Brandon, could ya, um...head out to Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow and let my family know I'm okay? I bet they're awful worried 'bout me." "Sure," he told her as he put on a new, less burnt shirt, "I'll go do that tomorrow, I'll also bring any home belongings anypony might need. Shy, I hate to say it, but I'm bringing a bath canvas and a tub. All of you smell like sh-..." Fluttershy gave him a warning look, "Crap, I mean. All of you smell like crap, even though I can't say anything for myself." Somehow every pony found this funny, and started laughing.

For the first time in forever they had a reason to smile, even if it was just a bath.


	12. Sweet Apple Acres

After a three mile hike, Brandon finally came upon the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres. Granny Smith was most likely inside the home, but he saw Big MacIntosh plowing the fields. "Hey! Big Mac, you ok?" the giant stallion looked at the ground, "Nope..." he said. That was the saddest nope he's ever heard. "It's about your sisters, isn't it?" Brandon asked him, some sort of concern in his voice. Big MacIntosh kept his eyes on the ground, "Eeyup," he said, once again indicating some sadness. Brandon patted his friend's back, "Well, don't worry. Applebloom's safe. The Queen's hunting her, but we have her in a place where they won't find her." Big MacIntosh's face lit up, "Applebloom's ok!?" _Wow, _Brandon thought, _it takes A LOT to get him to speak actual sentences. I think this is the third time he's said something other than 'Eeyup' and 'Nope'._Brandon nodded, "Yes, she's under my protection. I promise you'll see her once I deal with the Dark Queen, but in order to do that, I need to find Applejack. Now, do you have ANY idea where she could've gone? I need you to think really hard, too! Please, this is important. Do you now of any place where she would go if there were danger?"

Big MacIntosh put his hoof up to his chin, looking deep in thought. "Nope," he said plainly. _Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true... _"But, Granny Smith does," he pointed to the farmhouse. "Great! Thanks!" He ran to the door, only to have it slammed right in his face. "Why, Candon Ashford," the old mare spoke, "I never thought I'd see you again! Let me get a good look at you!" Brandon stood up, "Ma'am, it's 'Brandon'. With a B-R," the poor, senile woman could never get his name right. "B-R? Brr? I guess it's cold outside. Have ya heard anythin' 'bout my granddaughters?" Brandon gave up on trying to correct her error with his name, "Applebloom's ok, she's with me. But I want to ask about Applejack." Granny Smith had a saggy old smile on her face, "Well, it's about time you an' Applejack got together! Whatcha want to know?" Brandon didn't realize what she meant at first, "What?! No! Nothing like that!" "Aw, c'mon! I seen you two hangin' 'round eachother like vines 'round a tree!" Brandon kept trying to get it through her skull, "Yes, but that's because we're friends! I'm engaged to Fluttershy!" "Ohh, I wonder if Fluttershy knows about you two." "No, because there's nothing between us!" He sighed, "Look, Granny Smith, all I want to know is where Applejack would go if she were in danger." "Ferget it! I ain't givin' my oldest granddaughter out to some adulterer!" "I'M NOT AN ADULTERER!" The old mare started chuckling, "Hoo, I'm just a-messin' with ya! Whatcha want to know?" Brandon stood in confusion...apparently all of the Apples have some twisted sense of humor.

"Granny Smith," he said calmly, trying not to burst out in rage, "would you kindly tell me where Applejack would go if she were in trouble and had to leave town?" The green old mare answered instantly, "Why, just a while ago, 'bout the same time you stopped a-comin' here, she told me she had to leave fer Manehattan, but she should be comin' back any day now. She only wanted me to know, said somethin' 'bout how everythin's huntin' her and she had to kill some sorta spirit to weaken that old woman livin' in the castle now." Finally, Brandon got some answers, "Thank you, Granny Smith, you've been a big help."

As he turned around to walk back to town he noticed a dark cloud coming from town. Darker than a storm cloud...it seemed more like...smoke. Suddenly a call came through on his datapad, he answered it and heard Twilight talking to him in a panicky voice,

"Brandon, you've got to get to town, NOW!"


	13. Torment

Brandon rushed to the town only to see ponies running and screaming from a terrible fire. Among the crowd he saw Lilium and Arcanum looking around. Not only were those two mysterious figures there, but so was...was that Applejack? He yelled at them, trying to grab their attention, Applejack was the only one to look back. The look on her face said she didn't expect Brandon to come back. Lilium looked behind her and saw Brandon as he yelled. Her eyes, the only thing he could see due to her outfit, grew wide. Wide from horror. "BROTHER, WATCH OUT!"

He turned around and saw a giant dark shadow coming toward him. He blacked out.

Brandon awoke inside the temple. After the rest of his senses came awake, he felt pairs of hooves wrap all around him. Applejack looked at him, "I thought you were dead!" Rainbow Dash looked at her, "Yeah, we really need to stop saying that. I'm pretty sure he's getting annoyed hearing that all the time." Brandon held his head, it felt like his brain was growing and splitting his skull in half, "Kind of. What happened?" Arcanum came into the room, looking relieved that Brandon was ok, "You were attacked by a supernatural force." "Like a spirit?" Brandon asked. He wasn't a real big believer in the undead and supernatural stuff. Arcanum started looking at the murals on the room, "Around the time Celestia and Luna came to power, the Banished tried one last counter attack." "Wait, wait," Brandon stopped Arcanum, "The 'Banished'? You mean the humans, right?" Arcanum looked at the ground, "Don't you find it strange that humans and ponies both speak English, and your inventions are similar. Like the typewriter, or plows, or trains? The first time they rebelled, they were a group within Equestria. They were ponies who dug too deep in the dark magic. The Queen begged them to stop delving into dark arts, but they wouldn't listen, they were hell-bent on gaining immortality. The Queen feared that once they became immortal, or destroyed Equestria due to a mis-used spell, she turned them into beings who couldn't fly, use magic, or gain any special talent: Humans. The humans were very limited in ability even compared to the Earth Ponies. But, there was one thing the Queen couldn't forsee. The one who taught them the dark magic was Cichol, God of Evil, who wanted to see Equestria torn apart by civil war. He soon got his wish and ignited the Humans to rebel, he even created a monster, the one that attacked you, named by legend as Torment. Torment was sealed away by the Queen but I think Marekya may have broken the seal. We need to destroy this monster, once and for all."

He thought about it for a moment. What Arcanum said didn't really make much sense, but he had to listen to him. "Ok," Brandon said, getting up and grabbing his sword, "Is it still in Ponyville?" Arcanum nodded, "Lillium went ahead of you. I suggest you don't go alone. Applejack, go with him. It's destiny that you two fight this battle." Applejack smiled wickedly, "I'm gonna buck this thing right off my home! My Granny Smith didn't settle here for nothin'!"

"Good!" Brandon said, opening the temple door, "Are you ready to get a little reckless?"


	14. Unity

Twilight looked at Arcanum with suspicion. The eyes looked familiar. "Is something wrong?" He asked in a threatening tone. "No, nothing!" She panicked, _wow. This guy is scary. _"Do you think Brandon and Applejack will be ok?" Arcanum looked out the window, "Yeah. Those two will be just fine."

"SHIT, RUN!" Brandon yelled running away from the giant beast. He'd underestimated the strength and size of Torment. Torment was basically a giant black cloud of fog in the shape of a human, it had long, slim arms and a giant eye inbetween where the eyes should be and a big mouth, twice the size of a normal mouth, even for its size. "What do we do?!" Applejack screamed, following right behind Brandon. "I don't know! Stab it in the eye? That's worked well for me in the past!" "How do we get its eye?" She questioned, looking back at the giant monster pursuing them. "I don't know!"

"I know!" Said a young voice next to Brandon. "Lillium!" Brandon exclaimed. She wasn't there a minute ago. "I've set up an ambush! Run to Sweet Apple Acres!" "You did what!?" Applejack yelled to her. Brandon did noticed that there was a lack of ponies running away. "Ok. Let's go!"

Finally, after running for about 15 minutes they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. What they saw wasn't the just the Apple Family, or even a ragtag group of ponies ready to fight. No, these two saw the entire town of Ponyville, aside from the unicorns, with just about any projectile weapon available. There were bows, crossbows, slingshots, rocks, apples, anything that could be thrown was there.  
"Applejack, help them out!" Brandon ordered and drew out his sword.

Waiting for the monster, the ponies stood there, united, waiting to take down their first monster. For most of them, this had been their first fight. Minutes ran by, hours did as well. It wasn't until three hours after waiting for Torment to make its way to them when they found it following behind a sprinting Lillium. "NOW!" She screamed, barely managing to keep from getting caught by Torment. At her command, the ponies readied each of their weapons. "Ok, guys, you aim for it's eye! Even if you can't throw that far, you go for it!"

They followed the orders, jamming tons of things into its eye, rendering Torment useless. Brandon crawled up its arm, attempting to finish it off, when it got back up, screaming from the pain. "Everypony watch out! Once I get this thing down it's gonna fall HARD!" As soon as he finished, Brandon leapt up it's shoulder and stabbed Torment in the eye. Direct hit! Torment screamed even louder, but could hardly be heard over the Ponies' cheering. Still not down, Brandon kept stabbing it until Torment, painfully and furiously, until it finally fell and reverted into a cloud of dust. Apparently when thrown against the Queen's Magic, monsters don't stand a chance. That same familiar light emenated throughout the afternoon sky, giving everypony a ray of hope. Applejack looked at the figure in the light, "Wow, y'all. That looks just like...me." "Eeyup," Big MacIntosh agreed, standing next to her.

**_"Everypony, the End is near if you do not act. By the end of the week the False Queen will send her armies here to conquer the remaining towns one last time. And she will succeed. Golden Hero, you must unite the Elements of Harmony, the jewels you all know of, the Represenatives of Harmony, the ponies that represent the Elements. We know them as Founders of Harmony. And you must also unite us: The Spirits of Harmony. Unless you have us, you will not defeat Cichol." _**_  
_Brandon didn't understand that last word, "What? Cichol? I thought we were against Marekya!" **_"No,"_**she spoke, **_"The Dark Queen is merely a puppet, controlled by Cichol. Much like she has control over your friend, Alex Washington. Unlike him, though, she asked for_**_ it."__  
_"I knew Wash would never betray me!" He happily said to himself, "Is there a way I can break the spell? And what about the Princesses, where are they?"  
**_"Alex Washington's spell can be broken. Marekya's magic is not that strong, but you can only break it with the help of the Two Sisters. Princesses Celestia and Luna. Unfortunately, Princess Celestia is nowhere to be found. And Princess Luna...is_**_ **dead."**  
_The whole town's heart broke to hear this news. Beloved Princess Luna...dead?

"Ok...we'll save the world. Just you see it. For Luna, for Equestria, for the world.


	15. Muffins and Candy

Brandon walked with Applejack and Lillium back to the temple, he was reviewing the notes in his head.  
_Let's see...the unicorns are still missing, Luna's dead, Celestia's gone, and as it turns out this Cichol guy is behind all of this. Why, though? _"Lillium," he said plainly, "Do we have any information on where the unicorns went?" The young girl shook her head, "No, nothing. We just know that they have to contain them in a way that blocks their connection with the magic in the world. So far...we've come up with nothing on that."

"That's too bad," he replied, thinking of ways that they could use to successfully contain unicorns. "They'd need a magic barrier of some sort. But who would betray their entire race to do that?" Applejack hummed an "I don't know" then asked Lillium, "Earlier you said somethin' that sounded...weird. When Brandon was about to be attacked by that monster you yelled-"

"Hey! Psst! Over here!" said a voice from the nearby alley. The three looked over at the mares signaling them, Derpy and Bon-Bon. Brandon hesitantly walked over to them, "Yes?" Bon-Bon tried to speak, but Derpy interrupted, "We have an IDEA!" Applejack looked toward Brandon, "What do ya think?" "I don't know," he said, "Derpy? An idea?...I think she's bluffing." Bon-Bon opened her mouth, as if to say something, but the ditzy mare busted in again, "On the uniccorns! Our idea is that they're GONE." "Yeah, I knew it," Brandon looked at the others, "She was bluffing." Bon-Bon immediately shoved her hoof in Derpy's face and decided to do the talking from now on, "She means, we think we know where they are. Carrot Top and I have been talking and we noticed something odd." "What is it?" Brandon replied curiously. Bon-Bon's a smart mare, so she usually is worth listening to. "Well, we noticed that the river that flows from Thunderclop Mountain dried up. It didn't decrease in size, it was sudden, like it was blocked. Like with a dam." "So, you think that the unicorns dissapearance has something to do with the river drying up?" The two nodded. "Hm...I guess it's worth checking out," he looked back at his friends, "Come on, let's go back to the temple where it's safe for Applejack and investigate that river."

It was around night time when they arrived back in the Temple of Sol and the welcome was never more warm. Rainbow Dash hopped around, "We saw EVERYTHING! That was so cool!" Brandon smiled, "Well, I'm glad it wasn't any bigger." Fluttershy giggled, "You could've handled it." "Probably, just would've been a lot harder." They both chuckled at his joke and he turned to see Arcanum and Lillium talking to eachother alone. It looked as if they were in some sort of argument and Arcanum was winning. Lillium bowed her head in shame as Arcanum stepped forward, "We have to go. Brandon, we'll meet you where the river begins," and without another word they bothed walked out of the Temple of Sol. Arcanum looked as though he were in a rush, Lillium looked hesitant to walk out. Just who are they?

Fluttershy's eyes always seemed to dart to the ground, especially when she was in deep thought. Before they started dating, she always looked at the ground when Brandon was around, and on dates she would look at the ground. This time her eyes were completely planted to the ground. "Fluttershy," he asked, "is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine."


	16. I hate being cold

Brandon trudged through snow with a scowl on his face, _I thought this damn place was supposed to be warm and relaxing. Why is it SNOWING?!_ He thought to himself, _I hate the cold, I hate snow, I hate rain, I hate rivers, I hate everything. _Brandon always gets a little cranky when he's freezing. He walked through the snow for about half an hour before he tripped on something. Ice. The river wasn't blocked...it was frozen. That wasn't all, there were unicorns underneath the ice!

Brandon pulled out his sword and tried busting open the ice, but some sort of magicalfield wouldn't allow anything to go through. "It's no use," said Arcanum, who appeared suddenly behind him, "Even with the Queen's magic in the sword there's no way to break the ice. However, there is a way." Brandon stood up and kept trying to get warm, "How?" The masked man looked toward the mountain, "In there is chamber. Two of your friends are in there. You need to rescue them or else the ice will stay frozen. Good luck." Brandon kept his eyes on the mountain, "Ok, so I..." He turned to his right, where Arcanum originally was, only to find no one there. "Damn it, I hate when he does that. Now I have to climb up this stupid mountain. This sucks."

He did as Arcanum instructed, climbing up the mountain and complaining the entire way.


	17. Oh, look, a Windigo

After an hour of climbing the mountain, Brandon walked upon a chamber in the mountain, just as Arcanum said. Inside was was just a bunch of ice. Just giant chunks of ice. One of those chunks had a strange light coming from underneath it. Blue light...Brandon took a closer look...Princess Luna! "Brandon!" Screamed a voice from above, "watch out! It's a trap!" Brandon looked up and saw Rarity hanging from the ceiling. "Rarity?!" "RUN!" She screamed, but was too late. The ground rumbled and the cold became more fierce. Rarity broke herself free from her frozen hoof cuffs. She dropped down to be caught by Brandon. "Rarity, what's happening?" "It's awakening again. Every time the ice gets close to melting they drain more power from Princess Luna, by doing so they awaken that...thing." "Thing!?" Brandon yelled, concerned.

The ice around Princess Luna cracked until it shattered, a ray of dark blue energy exploding out from the cracks. "Rarity, what's it doing!?" She couldn't answer. The monster was taking form, and Luna was its center. Once the ice cleared, the form of the monster was clear. It was made of ice, head to toe, but instead of some humanoid creature it was more in the shape of a pony, using Luna as its heart. "What the hell is that!?" Rarity looked terrified, "It's the Big Windigo!" "It's a what!?" No time to answer, "Look out!" Rarity screamed, shoving Brandon out of the way of its freezing breath. "We have to cut Luna out of there," Rarity instructed, "It's the only way to destroy it!"

"Right! Rarity, use any spell you can to distract it! I'll work on getting Luna out!" He drew out his sword and immediately ran toward the monster, hoping to cause some bit of damage. Maybe cutting its legs off would do something. It took about two, maybe three steps until the giant Windigo blew it's breath at him, knocking him into the ice wall. "Brandon!" Rarity screamed. He hit the wall pretty hard. "Are you ok?!"

No response. "Brandon! Fluttershy needs you!" The Windigo laughed at it's force, the Dark Queen will surely praise him for killing the Hero. A small noise was heard from Brandon's direction. Like shuffling of ice, almost. It wasn't until the ice particles cleared in the air that both Rarity and the Windigo saw Brandon standing in the way, something clutched in his hand. "That bastard made me cold!" He yelled, anger seaming through his voice. The Windigo looked confused...what? Rarity just had a blank look, "Really?"

"I hate the cold!" He yelled as he took the pin out of the grenade and tossed it right at the Windigo's head. "What's that!?" Rarity yelled, she'd never seen this device before, but obviously it wasn't something to be around. After realizing how close she was he knew he made a mistake, "GET DOWN!" He yelled and immediately and shielded her from the blast. The Windigo's surprised whinnies were drowned out by the sound of shrapnel and an explosion. They looked toward eachother, Brandon looked satisfied, but Rarity, on the other hoof, looked like she was about to murder him. A moan came from the bits of ice.

"Princess Luna," Brandon ran to her, "Are you ok?" The Princess of the Night slowly got up, "I...I am alive?...Brandon Ashford...?...Rarity...?" Rarity helped her up, "Slowly. Slowly," she instructed, trying to keep Luna in one piece. "I guess they didn't kill you, they just disconnected your soul from your body. That explains why the Spirit of Honesty told me you were dead." Rarity's eyes widened, "Spirit of Honesty? Like, the light figure who inhabits the Element of Honesty? That's quite strange because I saw a vision of Princess Platinum, calling herself the Spirit of Generosity. She told me to come here and to give you a message. She said: Brandon, the final spirits reside in the desert of Saddle Arabia and the Temple of Sol. Awaken them to destroy the Dark Queen and her master. A sacrifice will be made and you will have to push through in order to recieve your reward for following the Queen's Legend. Good luck and stay strong. That's all she said." Luna was still in a daze, "I hate to bother, but I command thou takest...I mean...could you please take me away from here? Without my magic, the unicorns will get out of the ice unscathed, so we must hurry before this place floods. I am very tired. As Princess I command you to let me on your back."

"What?" "I have been dead for a year, and my legs and wings are still not working. You must allow me to ride on your back." Brandon looked at Luna with a glare. Ever since Nightmare Night it's been tough to see if she was joking or not, since she does it so often, yet she gets mad when you don't take her serious. "Fine. I suppose this is payback for making you fly me to take on Godzilla?" He asked as he bent down, allowing the Princess to climb on. "Just a little bit," she said after she secured herself on to him. "Let's go," he said unenthusiastically, "This place is starting to melt."

On the way back Rarity commented on Luna falling asleep. "My, Brandon, you're quite the gentleman!" She said teasingly. "If you tell anypony about this, I'll tell the whole town about that one night stand with Fancy Pants!" Rarity's jaw dropped, "But you know that isn't true! A lady saves herself for marriage!" He chuckled, "Well, I have a feeling they'll believe me over you, so they'll think it's real. Hell, I could tell the whole town that Caramel's first girlfriend had male junk." Rarity found it demeaning to laugh at a crude joke, "Well, great to know your ego hasn't inflated in the year you've been gone. I can't believe I missed you." Brandon smiled, "All of you love me, you can't deny it." "Yeah," she said, "I guess we'd be lost without you. Just look what happened, the whole world turned into Tartarus' wasteland. On a happier note, how have you and Fluttershy been?"

"Oh, we're engaged."

"...What?"


	18. I hate the heat, too

"Twilight, why are we in the desert? It's so hot out here!" Rainbow Dash groaned, trudging behind Twilight. "Because, Pinkie Pie and Margaret are in the desert surrounding Saddle Arabia trying to dig up some research on the Morrenians." She told her, still trying to keep the map steady. "Well, why would there be some information here?" "Because," she yelled, "When humans were ponies, the Morrenians' ancestors came from Saddle Arabia!" That shut Rainbow Dash up for...oh, two seconds. "Ok, I understand that. But why did we all have to come here? I thought that Brandon was the one pulling all the tough stuff!" Brandon realized that Rainbow Dash was showing some weakness, "Wow, Dash, I thought you were made for tough stuff." "I am!" She immediately caught her own slip-up, "I just...don't want to mess with the natural order of things. I was gettin' kind of bored in that temple."

"Listen, y'all," Applejack said, "I see it! We're almost there!" Twilight looked over and saw exactly what Applejack said: A stone temple, similar to the Egyptians of Earth, with a giant pony statue standing over it. "Alright, everypony," she instructed, "Just a little longer. I know this sand storm is tough, but we've got just a little farther to go. Brandon, what time is it?" Silence. "Brandon? Fluttershy, where's Brandon?"  
Fluttershy turned to her right, "Brandon?...Brandon?! Oh no! Brandon!?" She started screaming out his name. Still no answer. She started hyperventilating, that's when Rarity took control. "Fluttershy! Calm down! Remember, no stress! You have to think of-"

"I'M DOWN HERE," they heard a muffle voice yell a few feet away. "Help!" Twilight heard the voice, and looked around for its source. "Brandon? Where are you?" "I'm down here!" he yelled once again. "Where?" An armored hand rushed out of the sand, startling every pony. After getting out of the sand he took his helmet off, "Wow, guys. My armor got filled with sand and no one noticed? This sand storm is being a dick."

"Sorry, Brandon. Are you ok?" Fluttershy asked him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Are we almost there?" "Yes." "Fluttershy, is something wrong? You've been a little off these past couple of days." "I'm fine. Really."  
"Ok...I love you." "I love you too."


	19. And Don't Call Me Shirley

"Pinkie Pie! Are you out here?" Twilight yelled. The others soon followed in calling out for her, only to recieve no answer. "Brandon, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you three go through the first hall. Rarity, Applejack, and I will go down the other one," Twilight pointed out to two hallways, each on the opposite side of eachother. "Ok. Ready?" Brandon looked at his team, but mostly at Fluttershy. The two nodded, and they proceeded in the dusty hall.

_I can't tell him with Rainbow Dash here...what will they think? How will I explain it? _Fluttershy had these thoughts in her head crawling in and out like worms out of an apple. "Aw, COME ON. A dead end!?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "It looks like it. Then again, there could just be some secret passageway. Look around for a switch or a button. Old temples like these have that stuff all the time," after that, he started looking around the floor and walls for some sort of plate to press, Fluttershy did the same. Rainbow scoffed at the idea, "Please. That sounds so stupid." "But, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy tried reasoning, "You've read more Daring Do books than anypony. Just think of this as one Daring adventure!"

"Fine," she said, unenthusiastically looking around. Brandon used this time to get closer to Fluttershy, he whispered to her, "Shy, something is seriously wrong. You need to tell me." She kept silent. "I'm going to keep prying until you tell me." "It's nothing," she simply said, "Please, let's just look for that switch," she brushed him off and placed her hoof on what looked like a stone plate, only to be grabbed my Brandon, "No, Fluttershy. You're a terrible liar and I know something's up. Now tell me. What is it, did you stop loving me or something?" "No! Of course not!" "Then what is it? Tell me!" Fluttershy collected her thoughts and sighed calmly, "Brandon, I love you. I love you so much, but I can't tell you. It's not the right time. It's...well, I think it's good news, but I don't know if you will. Just, please, can you wait until after it's over?" Brandon looked into her eyes, a single tear trickled down her cheek, "Ok," he told her, wiping the tear off her cheek, "I trust you," he kissed her. "I know you do. I promise that when it's over, I'll tell you. I can't wait for the wedding." "Me either, sweetheart. Oh, and I saw those drawings on the fridge a while ago. I think Fluttershy Ashford sounds good, until you want to impress somepony."

"Guys?" Rainbow Dash said, meaning to interrupt their moment, "I present to you...the way through!" She pressed her hoof onto a stone plate that was sticking out and the wall in front of them split open. "Wow, Rainbow Dash, that was amazing!" Brandon exclaimed, getting off the ground and walking toward the new opening. Rainbow Dash smiled at her own accomplishment, "Surely you knew I would get us out of here!" "Of course I did," he said, "And don't call me Shirley!" He said, laughing at his own joke. The others had no idea what he was meaning. "It's a reference...you know, she said 'Surely' which sounds like 'Shirley' and...ok, never mind. It was a bad joke."

"No, Brandon," Rainbow Dash replied coldly, "Jokes are funny." She flew down the hallway, leaving Brandon...actually, a little offended. Fluttershy kissed him on the cheek, "If it makes you feel better, I thought it was funny." "Stop patronizing me."

"GUYS, GET IN HERE!" Rainbow Dash yelled from afar. The couple rushed in and saw a familiar face...

"No..." Brandon said, in complete shock, "But how...?"

"Hey, Ash. Now that I'm back, you're going to help me with something. When this is over, you're going to help me. Help me KILL the Overseer."


	20. Cichol

"Ayala?! What are you doing here?" Brandon yelled at the sight of his apparently living friend. She smiled and chuckled evilly, "Nope. Not quite," Ayala said in a deep voice. Black fog emanated from the ground and covered her body, "Like the trick, though?" The new, deep voice said.

"Brandon! Watch out, he can change shape!" Twilight yelled from a cage on the ceiling. The smoke took a humanoid shape, but remained faceless and skinless, except for an human eye on its forehead, twice as large as normal eyes. "My name is Cichol. How are you?"

"So, you're behind this?" Brandon said, pointing his sword at the walking fog. "Allow me to explain. Marekya came to me. I was happy living with the other deities...oh, until the Queen started restricting my boundaries. It wasn't my fault! I'm the God of EVIL, it's what I was created for! And she banished me for trying to take what's mine! Well, no more! Little did I know...some poor woman was feeling my same feeling of anguish. So I helped her out! She scratches my back, I scratch hers. Oh, and as an extra precaution, I locked up your friends AND the Elements of Harmony. Good luck!" He told him as he formed a sword out of smoke.

"Brandon, be careful," Fluttershy told him. "Don't worry. You and Rainbow Dash work on getting the cage open." She nodded and signaled Rainbow Dash to follow her to the cage.

Cichol's disappearing magic caught Brandon off guard a few times, but usually he was affectively able to block the sword strikes. The guy was obviously a fan of psychological warfare, "Well, it seems you're good at this! But, I'll find a way," he said, changing his shape again. This time his form was of Lady Mercia. "Oh, my son. Are you in trouble again? I keep telling you-" "STOP IT!" Brandon yelled, swinging his sword only to have it pass through her. "You're not my mother! Stop that!" "Fine," Cichol said, seemingly offended.

"How about I just kill that sweet little mare you were talking to? She seems so innocent, just perfect for the killing!" Cichol shouted, "Where is she?" "Don't touch her," Brandon threatened to him, the tone in the his indicated that Brandon would definetley kill him if he went near Fluttershy. Cichol simply laughed, "You can't beat me, though! Don't you see? It's a lost cause! Sure, you can hurt me, but you still can't kill me! All you have is that wimpy little sword! Without the Elements, you won't be able to win! I might as well quit playing and kill you all now!"

The God of Destruction probably would've continued on if he hadn't been smushed by the cage hovering over him. The sudden crash startled Brandon, but what was even more startling is when Margaret and Pinkie Pie hopped down from the ceiling. "Thanks for distracting him, Brandon!" Margaret smiled and turned around, allowing her scythe-like weapon to be observed. "Wow, good job. Next time give me a signal. Cough or something," Brandon said, turning to a very excited looking Pinkie Pie. "Hey Pinkie."  
"Ohh, I'm glad you're ok!" She tackled him, laughing the whole time. "Wow, after you got thrown off the cliff I thought for sure that you were a goner, but then a year later you weren't and now Margaret and I are here and we're saving you and we'll all be friends again and-" "Pinkie! Calm down! I know, I lived through most of it," Brandon told her, to which she responded by getting off him so she could go greet the others. He then went to speak to Margaret, "So, you're working with them now...Maggie?" Margaret rolled her eyes, "I told you to never call me that. And...well, they're not so bad once you get to know them. I guess I understand why you want to live here." Brandon looked over at his friends, all laughing and smiling, finally back together. "Yeah...if it weren't for them, I guess I'd have left." Margaret gave him a sweet smile, something he's not used to seeing on her. "Here," she held out a chest that was behind her, "I brought you a present." The chest popped open, revealing the Elements of Harmony inside. "Now, I think you should probably take care of the guy underneath the cage."

The 7 put their Elements on and started opening a portal, banishing Cichol to the gap between dimensions. Cichol resisted the portal and started trying to scurry his way out. "Damn you all!" He yelled, "Each and every one of you. I curse each one of you! YOU especially, Brandon! You were rejected by the Queen as well, yet you still fight for her? Pick a damn side! Don't you know your potential? With the magic that sleeps dormantly in your system, you could take over the world!" The portal started getting stronger, giving Cichol difficulty in surviving. "As long as Marekya lives on, and my soul is alive in any dimension, I can still come back! You'll see me again, slitting your girlfriend's pretty throat!"

Brandon's eyes widened, nobody threatened Fluttershy in front of him. He felt some intense feeling of anger and hatred fill his soul, unlike anything he's ever felt before. "Shut up and DIE," Brandon screamed, pointing his arm in Cichol's direction. He felt the sensation of anger literally rise out of his right arm, and for a moment, Brandon's arm split open and these red, spear-like things grew out from the bones, puncturing Cichol's body and ultimately blowing him up into a cloud of smoke. All of that happened in a split second, and afterwards, his arm was back to normal.

"What was THAT?!" Twilight semi-screamed. Brandon held his arm, it was perfectly fine. "Was...was that ancient magic...?" Margaret tried to ignore the fact that she saw Brandon's arm split itself in half, "Ok, well...is that all?"

"No," Brandon said, "We still have the Dark Queen. Let this be known as her final hours."

"Not quite yet," came a voice from behind. After turning around, the team saw the ever-mysterious Arcanum and Lillium standing in the doorway.

"First, we have to explain a few things."


	21. Revelation

"Explain?" Brandon asked, "What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash was getting annoyed, "Hey, how about you tell us who you are! And maybe just tell us what the hell happened to Brandon's arm? You better start talking! Or else I'll..." Arcanum stopped her, "You won't do anything." "Oh yeah!? I'll knock you out!" "Try it." Arcanum replied coldly. Brandon tried to stop the argument between them by lowering Rainbow Dash back onto the ground, "Hey, everyone just calm down!" He said, trying to let Arcanum get a word in. "No," Rainbow Dash screamed, "I'm not trusting these two as long as they keep those stupid outfits on! Why don't you take them off? Show us who you are!" The blue pegasus flew toward the mysterious man, getting in his face as if to make a point. "Be QUIET," Arcanum yelled, clenching his fist, anger increasing. "NO," Rainbow Dash yelled, still trying to get in his face. "Calm down," Brandon screamed, once again bringing the prideful pegasus back onto the ground. Lillium looked around, her eyes filled with worry, "Everypony, calm the heck down!...Arcanum. We have to. You know we have to now if we want them to save the world." Arcanum's voice was still filled with rage, "But, if we do-" "They'll be fine. Brandon...I'm going to take my mask off," Lillium told him, "...I'm sorry..." she started slipping it off. "Lizzie...?" was all Brandon could say, his eyes widened and filled with shock. "Hello, big brother. I'm sorry." Brandon rushed to the ground and hugged his little sister, his voice breaking, "You could've told me...you could've said something." Lizzie dropped her mask and hugged him back, crying, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." was all she could say.

"But, how?" Twilight asked, "What about Arcanum? Who is he?" Arcanum took his time, "Listen...all of you. One year ago, Marekya Ark usurped the throne, forcing the Princesses out of the castle. She couldn't stand the thought that her kingdom suffered while she went into hiding. And on her way she met up with Lizzie, who took the alias as Lillium. After being separated from Princess Luna, the two remaining hatched a plan. A way to keep Equestria from being completely destroyed as a way for Brandon to fulfill the prophecy. As I said, Elizabeth took the name of Lillium. And I, Arcanum, am..." his hand started glowing into a bright, yellow light. Blinding the team for a few seconds. When the light faded, they saw none other than the long-lost Princess Celestia standing before them. That clever mare pulled a Sheik/Princess Zelda!

"...I'm sorry," she said, "We had to hide from the Dark Queen until you arrived. It was the only way." Everyone seemed excited to see her. Now with Princess Celestia there, they were certain that they could win this. "I'm so glad you're ok, Lizzie...but, why did you choose the name Lillium?" He looked at her. Lizzie smiled, "Because...Mom used to call me her Lilly. I thought it was nice." Brandon finally stood up, "God, you've grown."

Princess Celestia smiled, "All of the Elements are collected, and all of the Spirits are as well. The Spirit of Magic never left its seal in the Element. And Pinkie Pie's Spirit of Laughter has been put back into its Element. Brandon, the Spirit of Courage does not exist yet, so don't try and search for it." "Wait," Brandon said, "Did you see what I did with my arm? What was that?!" Princess Celestia sighed, "Unknown to most, the humans were actually very skilled in the art of magic. Well, there were few that were, but when there was a human born with magic ability, their powers would exceed Twilight Sparkle." Applejack chuckled, "So he can just do that digsustin' arm thing? Ha! This Dark Queen oughtta be a breeze!" She seemed relieved at the thought. "No," Celestia spoke with regret, "Through the trauma he's been through, he's unlikely to reach his full potential. Unfortunately, the magic blockers implanted in him by Mother will never break. There are only certain times he can do that. Now, come, let's go finish the Dark Queen."

"Not so fast," a voice from above yelled. "Princess Celestia, I've finally found you!" A giant hand emerged from the ceiling and grasped the Princess.  
"Let me go!" She shouted, struggling to break free. Even her magic was useless. "Everypony, you need to get to Canterlot! This constant use of her magic has made her mental stability deteriorate! Please, you have to save Equestria!" And on that last bit, she was gone, dissapeared by the hand.

"She's right, you know," Marekya taunted, "Just come and get me."


	22. The End of Everything! (Not really)

Canterlot Castle was an awful sight. Most of the protective walls had been blown out, and what was left had been patrolled by guards. "So, what's the plan?" Brandon asked Twilight, since her plans are usually what they go with. "I'm thinking," she said, putting her front hoof on her face. "Well, we can't just bull-rush through!" He told Twilight, urging her to hurry up. Margaret took a moment to study the castle, "Can't we?" The moment she sad that, all eyes were on her. "Just think about it," she said to everyone, "The patrols' helmets probably impair their vision, or at least, their peripheral. From here, I can tell that they have guns pointed in just about every direction except...well, they're probably not looking up. Brandon, grab your bird. I think I have an idea."

The Dark Queen sat in her throne. The past year has definetley changed her. Last time they all got a look at her, she was in a dark cloak and her face was barely hidden except for the piercing yellow eyes. Now, she was in a dark dress crested with silver jewels that made up an image of the Morrenian's symbol. The back of her hair was in a ponytail, her bangs being free, unlike a year ago when her hair was in a braid. The Usurper sat there, awaiting the Guardian to burst through the door at any minute. What she got instead, was a little girl coming through the door, calmly. "What is this...?" Marekya asked. "Oh," she finally realized, "You're that girl that's always with the disguised Princess. Your name is Lillium, right?" Lizzie swallowed her fear and talked to her, "Yes. I am Lillium, I am a guardian for the Princess. You need to get out of here, or else." The Dark Queen laughed at the empty threat, "Listen, dear, I control half of the world. My forces have just conquered the Griffon Kingdom. Princess Cadence and the whole Equestrian Army lie in prison somewhere. What makes you think you can threaten me?" Lizzie sighed, "Ok, I tried to warn you. Now they'll come." "What? Who? Little girl, I order you tell me just who is-" but on the last word, the ceiling burst open and dust filled the room.

When the dust cleared, the Dark Queen saw who the intruders were: The Elements of Harmony, Margaret, and Princess Luna, whom they brought along on the way. "But...how did..." "We get in?" Lizzie said smugly, "Simple. Margaret and Brandon soon realized that the patrols were easy to sneak past as long as it was just one person. The orginization of the guards were meant to spot a small group, not a 13 year old girl who received a year of training from the princess. On my way here, I was able to plant a bomb on the roof, in order for the rest to perform a dive bomb. My big brother really is amazing! So are my friends. I guess you can't beat us, so why not hand over the Princess? I promise we won't kill you if you just walk out."

Marekya looked around, "You weaklings...my subordinate could easily stomp you. Washington, get over here! Show these idiots who's in charge!" she yelled down to the hall. Almost immediately the door slowly crept open and Wash walked in, almost soul-lessly. "Yes, my Queen." He said in that ever monotone voice. Brandon held Washington's shoulder, trying to reason with his old time friend, begging him to stop, "Wash, please. You don't need to do this. They're your friends, too." But the paladin kept walking, not saying a word. "Idiots," Marekya shouted, "Washington is under my control, you can't help him. Now, subordinate...sic 'em." "Yes, my Queen." He shouted as he charged at them, with a knife that had a 15-inch blade, it was more like a short sword. Brandon was, of course, the primary target. Washington was maybe four or five feet away from stabbing Brandon in the neck until his efforts were blocked by Margaret's quick thinking. The two started getting into it. "Get her! I'll handle Washington!" Margaret yelled and threw Wash out into the other room, then proceeded to follow him out there.

The Dark Queen sighed, "I still don't understand you, Brandon. You continually try to stop me, knowing it won't work. Oh, well," she said, getting up and taking off her dress, revealing a combat suit underneath, holsters wherever possible to hold her throwing knives, not to mention the two short swords on her back. "You sure carry a lot of weaponry," Brandon laughed, "I guess you are scared." Marekya smiled, "No, they're just a back-up plan. My real plan is this," she pulled a needle out of her back pocket, "This is the ARK Virus. It speeds cell growth exceptionally. You could inject this into a fly, about a minute later, it's the size of a dog. Just think of what it could do to me!" She started laughing, not maniacally, but insanely, like a serial killer who just saw someone get hit by a car. Marekya places the needle in her arm. "No, don't do it!" Brandon screamed, but it was too late, she already injected it. It looked as though things were crawling inside of her, "You should see the look on your faces! All of you! You look so stupid! Like you thought I would listen?! All of you are so stupid!" She laughed, once again, insanely, taking pleasure in the fact she was going to be overpowered.

These tentacle like things exploded out of her back, but she didn't seem to mind. "With the help of my magic, this virus can take any shape I want it to! Just think of what I can do!" She was now 20 feet off the ground, do to her bloody tentacles on her back propping her up. "Now, Brandon, to make sure you don't get any help!" She screamed out as her tentacles lashed at the others, throwing them out of the throne room and into the hall way. Brandon looked back to check on his friends, luckily all of them were in one piece.

"Alright, Brandon," Marekya laughed, "Let's finish what we started."


	23. Cliffhanger

Brandon fought as well as he could, but Marekya had the higher ground. Everytime he cut off a tentacle, it grew back. Marekya just stood there, laughing as Brandon was getting smacked around over and over by the Ark's by-product, weakening him. _This is the hero? _She thought, laughing on the inside and outside, _He's just a stupid kid! He's hardly fighting back, how can this kid possibly be the one who took down Project Paladin, much less successfully kill the Emperor?_

Brandon concentrated, trying to do that arm thing again, but no success. Apparently, he couldn't do that again, at least not yet. Finally, he realized this, so he chopped off the surrounding tentacles and started hiding behind the pillars in the throne room. A call came through on his phone, "Brandon!" Came Margaret's voice on the cell, "I've got Wash under control and he told me something REALLY important. Just before he passed out, he said that DQ's virus is short-lived and she has to take another vial of that thing if she wants to continue using it. In a moment she'll need another dose, stop her from taking the dose and the virus dies! I'll focus on getting Wash out of here and releasing the prisoners. Good luck." "Thanks Margaret. You, too."

As he peeked out from around the pillar, he noticed that Marekya was digging through her pockets, obviously searching for another needle. _Margaret was right...but the tentacles won't let me get close to her. What should I use...? _He looked down at the previously used needle laying on the ground, _Perfect, _he thought to himself, _now all I have to do is dive for it._

The Dark Queen found it, "Yes, finally. Do you hear me, Brandon?" She shouted to him from across the room, "Now I'm certain you'll die." After finishing one of her laughing fits, she pressed it up to her arm once again, only to have it shatter in a split second. Marekya's eyes widened to the point where they'd almost fall out. A blood-curdling scream came out of her mouth, screams of pain as the Ark Virus started slowly dying.

"You little shit!" She screamed, on her knees from the pain as the virus started sinking back into her, "I'll make sure you die!" The Dark Queen was always prepared, she pulled out, what seemed to be a remote detonator from her front pocket.

Brandon realized this and looked back toward his friends, their faces pressed against the barrier that Marekya put up to stop them from interfering. "Luna, get them out of here," Brandon yelled to them. A single tear fell down her face, "...I will." The girls couldn't believe what they were hearing. Fluttershy looked at Brandon with a terrified expression on both of their faces. "I'm sorry, guys. Stay safe. I love you, Fluttershy."

"NO-" was all she could scream before she felt a magical sense overcome her. She opened her eyes, though she didn't remember closing them, and found her and her friends in the pasture just outside Ponyville. Fluttershy charged at Luna and grabbed her by the throat, "I didn't get to say goodbye! All he heard was me saying 'No!' How could you just leave him there?!" Luna's eyes darted to the ground, "He was my friend, as well, Fluttershy. I saw no sense in all of us dying, he didn't either. Besides, how do you think he'd feel if I said no? He wanted you to live. I did what I had to." Everypony's sadness was interupted by the loud sound of a boom.

A good half of Canterlot Castle was blown away, smoke and fire covering the throne room. A single figure emerged from the horizon, carrying two swords and a ponytail swinging back and forth.

"Well, now that that's done...who's next?" Marekya smiled.


	24. My Poor Fluttershy

**Sorry about that, I accidentally submitted the wrong chapter.**

The whole town came to see the ruckus going on at the east side of town Only to find Luna blasting magic beams at Marekya, who was either evading them or blocking them with her swords. The rest were too distraught to do anything. They had just seen their own friend blown up. Everypony tried asking what happened and where's Brandon, but all they got were a pointing to the burning Castle. Twilight finally collected herself, "Girls, we can mourn him later...if we don't take care of Marekya now, we won't get the chance. Who's with me?" The rest all wiped their eyes and looked at the battle between Luna and Marekya, it seemed like a stalemate. Lizzie stood up, "I think I have an idea," she said.

Luna had pure magic and fight on her side, but Marekya was being driven by pure insanity. Finally, Luna tired out and couldn't handle the resistance much longer. Marekya smiled as she walked toward the Princess of the Night, "Don't worry," She said calmly, "You're dying for a good cause."

"That won't be neccessary," came a voice from afar. Everyone's heads turned to see two mysterious figures descending on the horizon. One in the shape of a human, apparently badly injured, seeing as he was holding his side, and the other was the unforgettable image of Princess Celestia. Brandon stepped forward, bruised and bloody, sword drawn and ready to dig in to some skin. "Marekya, the only one dying today is you. Luckily, my friends, Margaret and Washington, were able to free everypony you imprisoned and clear them from the blast radius. Luckily, they found Princess Celestia first, or else she wouldn't have found me in time to escape. Sure, a couple of debris hit me, but other than that, I'm ok." Marekya stood in disbelief, she even dropped her sword. Princess Celestia took her turn to speak, "You really should have killed me instead of using me as bait. It's apparent you lost, Marekya, why not just give up? No one here wants to kill you." Marekya looked around, "I'm...surrounded." And she was right. Everypony near Ponyville was watching her from afar. _There's no escape...I can't leave...I...I need to take that kid down with me! He's ruined my life! _Her horrified face soon became filled with rage as she realized she was going to die.

"Brandon...if you can beat me, then I'll concede," she said coldly. Brandon looked down at his bleeding side, "No. I won't do it. Just give up." Marekya looked around, seeing for some way of escaping. Her eyes darted toward Fluttershy. _I know her. Not only is she the Element of Kindness, she's also very special to him. Perfect. _Marekya was able to run to her, immediately grabbing Fluttershy and putting her in a hostage grasp, knife against her throat. "What's your name, sweetheart?" Marekya asked, looking directly at Brandon. "Fl-Fluttershy..." she told her, trembling in Marekya's arms. "You. You're close to Brandon, right?" "Y-Yes...we're getting married." "Marriage?" She laughed, "Oh, that's too cute. Well, tell Brandon if he doesn't accept my challenge, then you won't get to see the wedding." "Let her go, Marekya," Brandon threatened, his fists clenching. "Well, all you have to do is say yes, then I'll let her go! You have my promise!" Fluttershy looked at Brandon, her eyes said, _I don't want him to fight anymore...but...I don't want to die either. _"Alright. I'll fight you." "Perfect!" Marekya let go of Fluttershy and kicked her forward. "Now, to make sure no one interferes," she snapped her fingers and a magic wall separated the fighters from the remaining population.

The two charged forward, sparks flying, swords swinging. They both were able to get a few hits on eachother, but Brandon took the worst of it. His jacket was torn and ripped, a cut on his side was bleeding profusely and she was even able to get a cut on each side of his face. "You can't win this, Marekya! Please, just give up! I really don't want to kill you!" Marekya wasn't tiring out, "Oh, but I do! Your kind ruined my life! So, I'll kill you!" She charged forward, trying to stab him, but he caught on, blocked her attack and hopped out of the way. "You can't keep running away, Brandon!" She yelled angrily, her hands emenating some sort of magic aura. "Not when I have you like this." At that moment, a chunk of the ground rose up, just a foot over Brandon's height. He felt an invisible force push him against it, though he tried to resist. "See? You're trapped now." Some of the rock wrapped over his arm, cuffing him to it and making him drop his sword. Brandon struggled to bust free, but no affect. He simply didn't have the strength. "Now that you're trapped, I'll have some fun." Marekya smiled crazily as she held up a throwing knife, and flung it straight into his arm, pinning it to the rock. Brandon screamed as the flesh ripped and was penetrated by the sharp, steel object. He couldn't hear the horrified scream from the crowd over his own painful shouts. Marekya smiled at her own cruelty as she pulled out her last throwing knife,"Now, you will die knowing you failed to kill me. You'll know that there was no way you could save yourself."

_She's right. I couldn't do anything. Fluttershy...everypony, I'm sorry. _He closed his eyes, but not before seeing Marekya about to throw her weapon. He was prepared for the pain of the knife ripping through him. He heard screams coming from all sides, but he felt no pain. He did, however, feel something warm splatter on his face. "Big Brother!" He heard Lizzie yell, "Open your eyes!" He did so and saw the sight he'd never hope to witness. Fluttershy was standing on her hind legs, with her front legs and wings spread, and her eyes watering. He looked down to her chest and a small tip of a blade was sticking out, blood trickling down her body. "I'm sorry," Fluttershy said before she fell to the ground. "Fluttershy, no! Please, get up! God, you idiot! Why did you do that?!" Fluttershy struggled to lift her face up to look at him, "Because...you're more important. To me, and to every pony. When I was a filly, I was so scared. I was scared no one would want me, scared that only my animal friends would be the only source of comfort I had. But, you helped me. Finally, I wasn't scared of the world." Brandon knew talking like this had her heart racing, that would make her bleed out. "Fluttershy, be quiet! Stop talking, we'll find a doctor! Just put some pressure on it, try and stop the bleeding!" Fluttershy ignored him and went on with her last words, "Brandon, I love you. Even when you lied to me or when you called me a problem that one time...I never had any bad feelings toward you. There's no I could ever hate you. I wouldn't care if you ran off with some other mare...I'd still love you." Her vision started getting blurry and it started getting harder to breathe, "I guess my only regrets are not kissing you one last time...not being able to marry you...and not being able to tell you we were going to have a baby..." Brandon hardly heard that last part right, _A baby...?...But...is that possible? _"It's ok, though...because we'll meet again in some other life. No matter how long it takes, I'll wait for you...I'll always love you..." on those last words, she closed her eyes and a single tear trickled down her face and into the pool of blood below her. Fluttershy had passed on. Brandon couldn't say anything, he remained there, speechless, eyes widened until it finally registered in his brain: Fluttershy died. Fluttershy died for him, because of him. It was his fault.

Marekya laughed, it was obvious that her mind was long gone. "This is just what I was talking about! Now you'll feel my loss! I saw my parents die from the Patensian empire, now you'll watch yours!"

"No, I won't!" He struggled, harder and harder, until his arm broke free from the small rocky restraints. "I'll see you die! Go on, Marekya, give me your anger, your hate, all of your regret! I'll soak it all in and fucking KILL you with it!" He screamed as he ripped the knife out of his arm.


	25. Book Finale New Beginning

Cheers from the crowd became audible as Brandon started repeatedly pounding on a shocked Marekya, punching her right in the face, the torso, anywhere she could feel pain. She kept trying to block his attacks, but he was just angry enough to have his physical and emotional restraints released. _This is how I die, _she thought as she saw the anger on Brandon's face, _I'm going to die like this. If only I moved on...  
_Different words came from different ponies.  
"Get her, Brandon!"  
"Kick her ass!"  
"For Fluttershy!"  
"Alright, Brandon!"  
"Brandon Ashford!"  
"Go, Brandon!"

Brandon raised the knife and stabbed Marekya right in the heart, "That's for Fluttershy and all of the lives you ruined, Marekya. You're done." Marekya stood horrified, a look of deep sadness bearing over her face, "Brandon...I'm so sorry..." were her last words before dropping to the ground, gone from the world forever. The barrier dispersed and the six immediately rushed to Fluttershy's side. Brandon held her in his arms, "Shy, please wake up." he felt around for a pulse and put his ear on her chest to check for signs of breathing. Nothing. "Please...don't just leave like this." Lizzie started yelling to the crowd, "Is anypony a doctor? Please, we need to hurry!" "Lizzie," he said somberly, "it's over...she lost too much blood."

"Maybe not," Princess Celestia said, "Spirits of Harmony, your presence is requested," she shouted to the heavens. A holy light beamed from the clouds, revealing the Spirits of Harmony to take form. "**_Princess Celestia,"_**the Spirit of Magic said, **_"The Hero has saved Equestria by killing the Two Beasts of Equestria. He has fulfilled the prophecy. We thank him for saving our beautiful world, but we cannot bring his One back."_**"Why the hell not!?" He yelled, "I did everything you asked! I didn't question your motives, I did everything! I even killed Cichol! What more do you want?!"  
**_"We only have the power to bring one soul back. And, as you now know, Fluttershy has two inside of her. One being her own, the other being your offspring. You must choose between the two. If you choose Fluttershy, then the child will be born dead. If you choose your child, then we will take it on, and form it until it is ready to awaken in the womb. You know as well as anyone that there cannot be a goal accomplished without_**_**sacrifice."**_

Sacrifice,

he thought, _that's all they need. But...what do I choose? If I choose Fluttershy, she'll never forgive me...but...if I don't, then how would I tell it that its mother died because of me? Can I handle this...what do I need to do? _Brandon looked down at the lifeless body of his beloved slumped into his arms. _Arms..._he thought, _arms! That's it!_

"I choose both," he said. **_"We are sorry, Brandon, but you can not have them both. We don't have the power."_**"I do, though. Will my ancestor's magic be enough to bring the baby's soul back? Princess Celestia told me that the power exceeded Starswirl."  
The Spirits looked to eachother. **_"We will try our hardest, but be warned, there is only half of a chance that this succeeds. We hope the best for you."_**_  
_He felt the magic being sucked out of him, thousands of years of ancient magic being used as an energy source to bring Fluttershy back. The light surrounded her, it looked like it was working. The knife fell out of her back and her wound started to heal, her chest started rising and sinking, indicating she was breathing again. The lights faded away and the Spirits dissapeared. He looked at the unconcious mare as she slowly opened her eyes again. "B..." Was all she could say. "Don't talk. No, you're not dead. Not anymore. Let your blood start pumping again. And don't worry about the baby, I handled it." Fluttershy smiled, still weak from the blood loss. "You look beautiful, even covered in blood," he told her, brushing her mane out of her face. "I'll carry you home. We've got a wedding to plan and a nursery to build." He said as he picked her up and held her in his arms. Lizzie screamed, "Wow, brother, you're getting married!? And I'm going to be an aunt?! This day just got amazing!...Wait...if Fluttershy's pregnant then...oh, gross! How could you two-?!" "Grow up, Lizzie!" he snapped at her. Twilight chuckled at the two. They reminded her of her and Shining Armor. Never having a real argument, but never showing anger when they tried to make a point. "Well, every pony. It's a new day and I think we have a brand new adventure heading our way." "Oh, yeah? What's that?" Brandon asked. Twilight chuckled, "Well, I would happily help you two plan the wedding." Pinkie jumped in, realizing what was going on, "Oh, definetley! And I think I can get the Cakes to cater, and I'll be in charge of the reception!" "Fluttershy will need a wedding dress. That usually takes weeks of perfection, but I, being hardworking in the name of fashion, can get it done by next week. No charge, of course. Oh, Fluttershy, this will be so much fun! I have about fifteen different designs, eight of which will suit you perfectly! Brandon, you'll also need a suit! I know something you'll look just charming in!" Rarity quit talking in order to get a basic idea on what she wants for the perfect dress for Fluttershy. Applejack threw on her hat, which was previously lowered as a respect to the loss of Fluttershy, and said, "Well, I'm sure I can help y'all with the nursery an' everything, you two will have your hands...hooves...whatever, you'll be busy is all I'm sayin'." Rainbow Dash thought of a way she could help, "I guess I could help make sure the weather's nice and sunny on the special day!"

"There's no stopping them now, Shy. They've got their minds set on it." Fluttershy chuckled weakly, "We still have to think of a name for the baby," she said, her voice straining to make sound. "We'll think of something," he said, kissing her forehead, "Right now, we've got bigger things to take care of, most importantly giving you a bath. You still smell," he joked. "We still have nine months to think of a name, but the wedding and nursery come first." "You're right," she said.

"Oh, and Fluttershy?"  
"Yes?"  
"The next time you survive jumping in front of a knife, I'm kicking your ass."  
"I know, sweetie. I know."

**THE END.**


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